Impression Theory : False-Memory Theory

Human memory is highly subjective to misconception due to the high quantity of outside influences that affect what remember and how we remember it. There has been a time where it has been shown that outside influences from our family such as family resentment or other occurrences might be the cause of false memories being implanted into what we actually believe. False memories can be implanted in individual’s minds that do not consider themselves powerless or weak and uncritical. This shows how weak a person mind can be impacted by someone feeding them false information or even just asking them a question about their past. For example, most psychiatrists are able to bring up false memories inside adults who thought that they had maybe suppressed of these thoughts.

The study of creation of false memories has been a topic of interest since the 1930s when Bartlett (1932) conducted the first experiment on the topic. Though the results of this experiment were never replicated, they contributed greatly to research by distinguishing between reproductive and reconstructive memory (Bartlett 1932 as cited in Roediger & McDermott, 1995). Reproductive memory refers to accurate production of material from memory and is assumed to be associated with remembering simplified materials (e.g., lists). Reconstructive memory emphasizes the active process of filling in missing elements while remembering and is associated with materials rich in meaning (e.g., stories).

Another argument against the Memory Theory involves it’s circular nature if fake memories are implanted within a person who did not actually experience what the memories are about, and only ‘seems to remember’, via brainwashing for example.

In summary, the discussion about the false memory syndrome is far from being complete. False memory syndrome makes it difficult to judge the viability of an event and is very hard to banish from ones memory. A small false creation embeds in the mind for a very long time. Once an individual creates a false memory, it becomes part and parcel of his or her life. Therapeutic sessions should be taken with care so as to reduce false memory implanted to reduce

False memories are an apparent recollection of an event that did not actually occur. The reason why false memories happen are due to the fact that one's brains can only handle so much.There has been several experiment pertaining to the phenomenon, to find how it works.In the next part of the experiment the psychologist showed the participants a word list.False memories are very common and can happen to anyone. On very rare occasions false memories can be harmful to someone and the people around them.False memories are so common that they affect all of a person's memories. False memories can be made more clear by others memories or they could become more distorted. False memories have caused many wrongful convictions. A psychologist

False memory, second to forgetting, is one of the two fundamental types of deformation in episodic memory (Holliday, Brainerd & Reyna, 2010). Simply stated, false memory is the propensity to account normal occurrences as being a fraction of a key experience that in actuality was not an element of that experience (Holliday, Brainerd & Reyna). False memories are something nearly everyone experience. Furthermore, false memory is defined as placed together, constructed representations of mental schemas that are incorrect (Solso, MacLin & MacLin, 2008). Individuals do not intentionally fabricate their memory. However, perceptual and social factors are a few things that a responsible for manipulating memory (Solso, MacLin & MacLin, 2008).

Teaching About Repressed Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse - This article describes an undergrad 3 credit hour course taught in the fall at Rollins College. It examines human memory and its role in two applied issues which include repressed memory of childhood sexual abuse and eye witness testimony. The course content includes four components: 1) the instructor introduces students to the subject matter, 2) students review the nature of science, 3) learn about the extensive literature on the nature of human memory, and 4) learn about the anecdotal and scientific literature (for and against) on repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse and the literature on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony and identification. Freud and the notion of repression is discussed both in this article and in

The issue of 'false' vs. 'repressed' memories is of increasing relevance to counseling psychologists and indeed to any professional involved in therapy. The reputation of therapy is at stake, as clients begin to sue therapists for the implantation of false memories. In turn, it is essential that all clinicians conduct their therapy according to the latest guidelines of practice as to avoid suggestion and the possible implantation of false memories.

79% of the participants were females and 21% were males. The four groups were spontaneously recovered memory group, recovered in therapy group, the continuous memory group, and the controlled group. Subjects in the spontaneously recovered memory group said they had forgotten memories of childhood sexual abuse and then naturally recalled them outside of therapy. Those in the therapy recovered group said they recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse after therapy and by therapeutic techniques. Subjects in continuous memory group reported childhood sexual abuse and never forgot it. Those in the control group reported no history of abuse. Subjects within the groups were tested on false memory task and the FIA paradigm. In each of the ten trials of the false memory tasks, subjects studied a list of 15 words that were associated to a word not shown in the list. For example, bed, rest, and awake would be a part of the 15-word list that are related to sleep, the word that is not presented. In most cases, the subjects falsely recalled and recognized sleep as having been presented. To study previous knowledge of the subjects, the experimenters used a laboratory analogue that required the participants to recall information in qualitatively different ways. They studied a list of homographic words, followed by a context word. In test one, subjects were given a subset of a list with some of the letters in the target words cued with the same context word. In test two, subjects were asked whether they had recalled the given word in test one, which they often failed to recall. The procedure was different for each test. For the DRM test, participants would see lists of words on a screen and after viewing the words, they were asked to write the words down. The words stayed on the screen for three seconds and were then given two and a half minutes

Do you think an experience can be so traumatizing that the brain pushes it into an inaccessible corner of the unconscious to later recall it years later? This concept on the mind is expressed as repressed memories. These are types of memories that are blocked unconsciously due to the high levels of stress experienced during the event. This theory on memories are based on the idea that even though the memory is repressed it is still affecting the individual in their conscious aspects of life. Repressed memories are often associated with childhood sexual abuse. This relies on the idea that these memories of sexual abuse can be brought up either in therapy or by the victim themselves years after the abuse. The concept of repressed memories has been a huge controversy in psychology from the beginning of time. Many people believe that repressed memories in regards to childhood sexual abuse are possible while others believe they can’t be as accurate as some people believe.

False memories have been the subject of many studies since Deese (1959) investigated their effects.

While these studies do not fully exemplify the harmful reality of false memories, they take a step towards understanding how these false memories might occur in real-world settings. As Loftus (1997) discusses, it is only natural to wonder whether or not this research is applicable to real-world situations such as being interrogated by law officers or in psychotherapy. What researchers have learned, and can apply to this practical problem is that there are social demands on individuals to remember and come up with detailed memories. Not only that, but memory construction through suggestion and imagining events has been shown to be explicitly encouraged when people are having trouble remembering events (Loftus, 1997).

The article is about false memory. The researchers are trying to find out the effect of planting positive false memory in an individual. The authors of the article are; Cara Laney from University of Leicester, Erin K. Morris from University of California, Irvine, Daniel M. Bernstein from Kwantlen University College and University of Washington, Briana M. Wakefield from University of

The mode of implantation from the researchers included telling the participants multiple accurate childhood memories and would include one false memory (Loftus, 1997). The researchers validated the memories told to the participants by informing each participant that their parent(s) had been spoken to and those memories had been offered up (Loftus, 1997). Some of the false memories included being lost in a shopping mall when younger or spilling a drink onto the dress of a bride at a wedding (Loftus, 1997). 37% of those with the implanted memories found themselves able to recall the false memory provided in great detail and were often found to contain much emotion on the part of the participant (Loftus,

In “Psychology of False Memories”, Johnson describes false memories as mistaken experiences of ones past that did not occur. False memory is a spectrum of experiences that range as small as misplacing an object to as big as creating an experience that never happened. The problem with false memories is that they arise as would regular memories, prohibiting people to differentiate from ‘real’ memories.